Watford Sunday League round-up

Rifle Volunteer will take on Mill End Sports in the final of the competition after they sealed a 1-0 win against Tudor Arms.

It was an excellent all-round team performance from Rifle to dispatch the cup favourites, who were previously unbeaten this season. The early exchanges were cagey as both sides struggled to find any rhythm on a tricky surface.

Rifle managed to carve out a couple of opportunities and Andy Lomas and Andy Tobias had shots saved. Tudor had the best chance of the first half when their forward broke through on goal but saw his effort well saved.

The second period continued to be a tight and cagey affair with both teams struggling to break down the defences.

Extra-time seemed inevitable but Gary Froy had other ideas. He picked up the ball in the opposition half, burst past three players and calmly slotted the ball home.

The last nine minutes saw Tudor throw men forward but a magnificent defensive effort ensured Rifle came away with the victory.

Rifle can now look forward to their first ever County Cup final and savour an outstanding victory.

Mill End Sports booked their place in the final with a convincing 3-1 win against Headstone Athletic.

Matt Morris, Dean Brownsell and Andy Pryor were all on target in the victory.

WSFL Challenge Cup Quarter Final

Green Dragon's excellent winning run continued as they moved into the semi-final after defeating Hammer 4-1.

Dean Parratt maintained his fine form and notched twice in the victory while Luke O'Malley and Dave O'Sullivan also struck to set up a last four tie against Oakview or St Josephs.

Danny Brennan scored the consolation goal for Hammer.

Premier Division

Oakview strengthened their title prospects as they defeated leaders Oxhey Estates 2-1.

In a closely-fought game, goals from Lee Armitt and Adam Lowton proved enough for the second-placed side.

Wayne Gladdy was on target for Oxhey but it wasn’t enough for the home side.

St Josephs dropped two points as they were held to a surprise 4-4 draw by Croxley Green Community Centre.

Ben Cowen bagged a brace for Josephs while Sean Sonner and Ben Hammond also found the net. However, a stubborn display from Croxley meant they were able to secure a share of the points.

Division One

Evergreen missed the chance to close the gap on league-leaders Mill End Sports as they were held to a 2-2 draw with Bushey Bimecc.

Jonny Daily and Andrew Murphy got Evergreen's goals but they were not enough to seal victory as Dan Furey and Paul Kenwright scored for Bushey.

The result means Evergreen trail Mill End by five points in the table.

Croxley FC eased to a comfortable 4-1 victory against FC Crescent.

Gary Hayne and Rida Zekri both scored twice to secure the three points.

Division Two

Old Fullerians moved to the top of the table after they claimed a 3-0 away win against Hammer Reserves.

Stephen Pich scored twice in the victory while Jimmy Phang also netted.

Victoria closed the gap on third-placed Hammer Reserves after they recorded an impressive 5-0 win against AFC Bushey.

Matt Collins notched twice and there were singles for Joe Cheshire, Nathan Pooley and Jamie Beaumont.

Cassiobury Rangers played their first match in three months and that lack of match action eventually proved crucial as they were beaten 5-2 by West Herts after extra-time.

Rangers had taken the lead when a swift passing move between Michael Tomkinson, Jack Henley and Brima Johnson resulted in the latter having a shot saved but the rebound was converted by Joe Mortimer.

West Herts then fell two goals behind. Jake Lovick received the ball 25 yards out, took a touch and fired an unstoppable shot in to the top corner.

Roger Lake pulled a goal back for the Stags to leave the score at the interval at 2-1.

Daniel Strachinaru levelled the contest five minutes after the restart and the second period was closely contested.

Cassiobury had the more chances in the second half, including a very contentious disallowed goal, however the game needed an additional 30 minutes in order to be settled.

Rangers’ lack of match action proved their undoing. Strachinaru netted twice in quick succession to complete his hat-trick and Laurence Olorunfemi added a fifth in the closing stages to seal the victory.

AFC Spartians advanced into the next round after they clinched a 4-2 victory against Division One strugglers Chorleywood Club.

Tom Horton, Darren Lancaster, Jamie Hunt and Liam Stapleton were all on target for Spartians while goals from Michael East and Tom Toomey proved nothing more than consolations.

Invitation Cup Round One

Rickmansworth Athletic were in fine goal-scoring form as they thrashed Green Dragon Reserves 8-0.

Scott Reeves struck a hat-trick and there was a brace from Shane Kitts. Jaime Exley, Nicky Thomas and Paul Davidson also found the net in the victory.

An entertaining game saw West Watford clinch a 6-5 win against Watford Town.

Aaron Crawford scored twice and there were singles from Connor Stevens, Jake Burgess and Craig Williams.

However, they were not enough for the home side as West Watford secured the victory to progress.

Ipsoregulated

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